Critical valleys in drought and key issues
Climate overview
At the end of 2020 we had seen up to four years of drought across large parts of the state - worse than the 1940s drought or the Millennium drought in many areas. In the first few months of 2021 some valleys in the north-west and far west were still experiencing low storage levels and flows. However, high rainfall in March 2021 has seen the rural storages in the north-west improve. By the end of March 2021 , less than 1% of the state is considered to be drought affected (in terms of rainfall, soil moisture and pasture growth), compared to 100% in early January 2020.
In 2019 conditions were drier and hotter than any other NSW drought in the last 120 years. From January 2017 to December 2019, rainfall was the lowest on record. The 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 calendar years were among the warmest on record. Major rural NSW water storages are now approximately 55% of capacity (late March 2021) compared to 25% in March 2020.
At the start of April 2021, there has been a de-escalation of drought stages in the Border and Barwon-Darling Valleys. They are now in normal operations along with all other valleys, except the Belubula and Lower Darling that are still not fully recovered. The following map shows the stages as at 1 April 2021.
Northern basin overview
Inflows to each of the major northern inland NSW regulated rivers were the lowest on record in 2019. Northern inland NSW has experienced many two-year periods of sustained low inflows. 2019 saw an unprecedented third year of drought, with many storages in the north at very low levels at the start of 2020.
Consistent with water sharing plan rules and the NSW Extreme Events Policy, river and overland flows in the northern inland valleys in January and up to the end of February 2020 resulting from localised rainfall events were protected from most commercial extraction. In the Barwon-Darling restrictions were lifted later in March to ensure that flows could travel down and reach Menindee Lakes. These restrictions ensured that critical town, domestic and stock and refuge pools were replenished and river systems were connected for the first time for many years.
As a result of these restrictions, flows began arriving at Menindee Lakes from 10 March 2020 and provided water for a much-needed release along the full length of the Lower Darling. Flows reached the junction with the Murray River in April 2020, providing connectivity along the full length of the Barwon and Darling Rivers for the first time in many years. By end of June 2020 670 GL had entered Menindee Lakes. View more information on the North-West Flows and Lower Darling Releases.
In March 2021 rainfall and high flows in the north-west again occurred. In the Border Rivers and Gwydir valleys the flows were well above channel capacity and most of the water was on the vast floodplains. Unlike the situation in the first months of 2020 no restrictions on access were required as town weirs are full and rivers had and were continuing to be replenished. For more information on why these flows in 2021 are not being restricted by temporary water restrictions.
How we’re responding
In light of these unprecedented drought conditions, the NSW government responded in a range of ways to support those most affected by water shortages:
1. Clearer policy direction
- Launched the NSW Extreme Events Policy in October 2018
- Developed Incident Response Guides which form schedules to all the draft water resource plans in the NSW Murray-Darling Basin. Incident response guides outline the approach for managing water during extreme water shortage or critical water quality events
- Regularly update the four stages defining the severity of water shortages
- Implement and publish all temporary water restrictions and explain the reasons why they have been put in place
- Publish all water sharing plan suspension notices and reasons for the decisions
- Provide regular water allocation statements for the regulated rivers
- Launched the NSW Extreme Events Policy in October 2018
- Developed Incident Response Guides which form schedules to all the draft water resource plans in the NSW Murray-Darling Basin. Incident response guides outline the approach for managing water during extreme water shortage or critical water quality events
- Regularly update the four stages defining the severity of water shortages
- Implement and publish all temporary water restrictions and explain the reasons why they have been put in place
- Publish all water sharing plan suspension notices and reasons for the decisions
- Provide regular water allocation statements for the regulated rivers
2. On-ground measures
- Construction of emergency infrastructure works, such as temporary weirs, pipelines and access to lower levels in storages to extend town water and other high priority supplies for as long as possible
- Changes to river system operations to preserve remaining supplies for critical human water needs
- A coordinated approach across government to mitigate poor water quality and fish death events, including emergency response planning, increased monitoring, artificial oxygenation and fish relocation
- Appointment in January 2019 of the Regional Town Water Supply coordinator to ensure every regional town in NSW has safe, clean drinking water
- Establishment in November 2019 of the Office of Drought Response to better coordinate support delivered by all NSW Government agencies for farmers, communities, businesses and towns affected by drought
- In total, the NSW Government has committed over $2 billion to its Drought Emergency Relief Package including:
- Emergency assistance for towns for infrastructure such a bores and water carting if necessary
- Interest free or low interest loans to farmers for water and other on-farm infrastructure
- Transport subsidies for primary producers for transport of stock, feed and water
- Waiving a range of government fees, including fixed water charges
- Details of NSW Government Emergency Relief funding provided to local water utilities can be viewed in the interactive map.
- The Government has also committed $1 billion to the Safe and Secure Program for longer term water security and sewerage projects for regional towns.
- Construction of emergency infrastructure works, such as temporary weirs, pipelines and access to lower levels in storages to extend town water and other high priority supplies for as long as possible
- Changes to river system operations to preserve remaining supplies for critical human water needs
- A coordinated approach across government to mitigate poor water quality and fish death events, including emergency response planning, increased monitoring, artificial oxygenation and fish relocation
- Appointment in January 2019 of the Regional Town Water Supply coordinator to ensure every regional town in NSW has safe, clean drinking water
- Establishment in November 2019 of the Office of Drought Response to better coordinate support delivered by all NSW Government agencies for farmers, communities, businesses and towns affected by drought
- In total, the NSW Government has committed over $2 billion to its Drought Emergency Relief Package including:
- Emergency assistance for towns for infrastructure such a bores and water carting if necessary
- Interest free or low interest loans to farmers for water and other on-farm infrastructure
- Transport subsidies for primary producers for transport of stock, feed and water
- Waiving a range of government fees, including fixed water charges
- Details of NSW Government Emergency Relief funding provided to local water utilities can be viewed in the interactive map.
- The Government has also committed $1 billion to the Safe and Secure Program for longer term water security and sewerage projects for regional towns.
3. Better communication and coordination
- Drought information sessions provide public updates on water availability, groundwater and proposed drought measures
- WaterNSW’s River Operations Stakeholder Consultation Committees are valley-based committees formed with a broad range of key stakeholders
- Critical Water Advisory Panels includes a range of state and local government representatives to provide advice on proposed drought measures
- Drought Information sheets on key topics
- Drought information sessions provide public updates on water availability, groundwater and proposed drought measures
- WaterNSW’s River Operations Stakeholder Consultation Committees are valley-based committees formed with a broad range of key stakeholders
- Critical Water Advisory Panels includes a range of state and local government representatives to provide advice on proposed drought measures
- Drought Information sheets on key topics
Drought-affected valleys
The current drought stage and an overview of the situation in each valley as at 1 April 2021 is provided in the table below.
| Valleys | Drought stage |
|---|---|
| Peel River Normal operations - de-escalated from Stage 2 recovering in January 2021. |
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| Belubula River Recovering - de-escalated from Stage 3 severe in October 2020. |
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| Lower Darling Recovering - de-escalated from Stage 3 severe in May 2020. |
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| Barwon-Darling River Normal conditions – eased from Stage 2 recovering in April 2021. |
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| Macquarie River Stage 1 normal operations de-escalated from recovering in September 2020. Cudgegong eased to stage 1 normal operations in August 2020. |
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| Gwydir River Normal operations - de-escalated from Stage 2 recovering in January 2021. |
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| Border Rivers Normal operations - eased from Stage 2 recovering in April 2021. |
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| Lachlan River Normal operations–de-escalated from recovering in September 2020. |
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| Murray River Normal operations de-escalated from stage 2 emerging in July 2020. |
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| Hunter River Normal operations de-escalated from stage 2 emerging in August 2020. |
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Critical issues
Algal blooms occur across the state and can contribute to fish deaths, although the incidence and risk reduces as temperatures cool. Algal blooms impact on the use of river water and dams for recreation and impact on aquatic life. Towns also need to provide additional water treatment for water affected by algae. For the latest algal alerts go to WaterNSW.
With increasing flows, there is a risk of hypoxic (low oxygen) blackwater events occurring.
Information on the location of fish kills in NSW and the likely causes is available from the Department of Primary Industries
The department’s temporary water restrictions protect essential supplies and environmental releases.
Drought conditions have led most NSW rural towns to impose some level of water restrictions. Information on specific town restrictions are available from the local councils' websites or can be searched on the website of the Bureau of Meteorology.